The Bird of Hermes
by KnightEstoc
Summary: Sometimes, you hit the jackpot when it comes to powers. And sometimes, you lose big time when it comes to everything else.
1. Prisoner

**So this is a thing that just happened.**

* * *

 **1.1 Sophia**

"You're sure everything's ready to go?"

I rolled my eyes and snorted. Christ, for it being her idea Emma's being such a little bitch about the details. "Yes, I'm sure," I snapped. "I finished filling her locker with the crap over break so it's had plenty of time."

Clements giggled. "I can't wait to see her face! How'd you manage to get the stuff in there, anyway?"

"That's easy!" Emma laughed. "She just -"

"- Got the combo and shoved it in there," I interrupted the redhead fast, giving her a quick glare. Idiot, don't go blabbing everything. You want me getting in trouble with the fatty? "Now let's go, I don't want to be caught hanging around here."

"What-ever." With a wave of her hand, Clements dismissed my suggestion. "It's not like we'd get blamed for this. Nobody's dumb enough to snitch on us." She grinned. "Besides, who'd they believe? The trouble student or the three of us?" She batted her eyelashes.

I tried to keep the distaste that felt thick in my throat from showing on my face. She was useful for now, but I was going to need to get away from her sooner or later. She might think she's got power because she managed to suck up to us, but I can tell she's just prey deep down. Still, depending on how this thing with Hebert goes, I might let her stick around for a while longer - she's been helping keep the teachers off us. Not that I really need that, but it makes my life easier. "When is she getting here?" I sighed. "I'm getting bored."

"Useless no matter what," Emma giggled. A vibrating sound filled the air, and she whipped out her phone and studied it briefly before a wide grin stretched across her face. "She's here. Get ready."

I shrugged and gestured to them. "Stand back. Don't wanna be in the splash zone, right?"

"Eww!" Clements and Emma chorused in unison before taking a few steps away from Hebert's locker. I nodded and stepped back myself, waiting in hiding for our target to walk to her corner.

Before long, the pathetic loser walked around the corner and headed for her locker. Like always, she was walking hunched over slightly, a sight that never failed to make me want to hurt her. What a wimp - she can't even fight back. Maybe after today she'll just leave and not come back! Yeah, that would be the perfect ending to the whole thing, like a late Christmas present. But as for Hebert, I could tell she was prey just by looking at her. She was way too tall, too gangly, and always wore dark clothes that never revealed anything. Everything from the way she walked, eyes always darting around behind her glasses and back hunched slightly, to the way she looked just screamed at me to, well, prey on her. I smirked as she stopped in front of her locker, putting her backpack on the ground, and spun the dial, entering her combination before popping open the door.

The smell was the first thing to hit me - the rancid smell of old blood. Which makes sense, since I'd shoved three bins-full of used pads and tampons into there.

Hebert stumbled backwards and I moved forward; as she bent over to vomit, I held my breath and grabbed her by the hair hard and shoved her forward, forcing her into the locker. It was barely tall enough for her to fit, hunched over like she was, but she didn't even try to resist. As soon as I shoved her in there, I slammed the locker door shut and clicked the lock closed over it again. Turning around to glare at the students that had been present, I made sure to stare at every single one of them. They knew that if they told anyone they'd be the next ones in the line of fire, and they all looked away. Pathetic herd of cattle. Not a single real predator in the entire school aside from me.

Ignoring the banging from the locker behind me, I walked away to join up with Emma and Clements; we swept through the halls, the queen bees of the school. I snickered as the bell rang, marking the beginning of classes - there was nobody that would help her. If we got lucky, she'd be in there for a day or two - the perfect place for trash is with other trash, after all. And this one, nobody could even try to pin on us, since none of us know the combination to her lock. She could yelp all she'd like, but Hebert would never be able to prove we did this.

Halfway through the second class of the day - Mr. Gladly's class, Parahuman Studies or something stupid like that - my phone buzzed and I lifted my head from my desk. When the fuck did I fall asleep? Christ, that asshole's voice is more boring than I thought. I glanced at my phone; it was Clements asking if we shouldn't let Hebert out of the locker. Before I could more than snort dismissively, Emma replied, telling her to stop being a little bitch about it. Not literally, but then again Emma was slightly better at handling people than me. Mainly because I couldn't give two shits about the feelings of some idiot. I pocketed my phone, satisfied that Clements wouldn't lose her nerve and let Hebert out, and resumed listening to Mr. G, as he insisted we call him, ramble about parahumans and how they impacted society. Pfft, like I needed to pay attention; I could learn more about that in one night out on the town than I did all year in this class. Still, I had to at least try to pretend to care, or Piggy'd get on my case, and listening to her snort at me was so far down on my list of shit that I wanted to do that jumping in a fire ranked higher.

At the end of the period, I strode out of the classroom only to find that the halls were empty. The hell? Where was everyone? A pair of girls ran past, and I reached out to snag one of them. "Where's everyone?" I asked them. "What's going on?"

"Didn't you hear?" the girl said, glancing at me. "They found that Taylor Hebert girl locked in her locker! The janitor popped it open and she just came out of there snarling like a monster."

"Damn," I blinked. "That's messed up." They glanced at each other, and I deliberately tightened my grip on the girl's upper arm. She winced and looked at me with just a tiny shred of fear in her eyes, but that was enough for me. "Whoever did that might be listening right now, so you probably shouldn't talk about it loudly." So shut up about it and don't point any fingers, got it? I let go of her arm when she nodded quickly and the girls sped off, no doubt to go watch the show. I hesitated for only a second before following them, texting Emma and Clements as I went. They'd probably heard about it already, but better safe than sorry - I don't want this biting me in the ass because those two let something slip.

When I arrived at the scene, it was so crowded that I couldn't see past the mass of students. Shoving and pushing, I made my way to the front; I wanted to see Hebert lying on the ground like a pathetic victim with my own eyes, not just hear it second-hand. I reached the front of the circle to see several teachers trying desperately to keep order while a janitor worked on mopping up the crap that had spilled out of Hebert's locker onto the floor. It was a lot more liquid than I remembered, but that was probably from Hebert's puke. As for Hebert herself, she was pale and covered in vomit, lying on her hands and knees and staring at the floor. I felt a small thrill of victory at how pathetic she looked; with something like this, she shouldn't bother coming back.

Suddenly, Hebert stiffened and slowly turned her head to look at me. I blinked in surprise as she slowly pushed herself to her feet and lurched over to me, shuddering. A teacher told her to sit down to avoid hurting herself, but Hebert didn't listen. "You planned this," she whispered, before making a fist and slamming it into my chin. I wasn't exactly prepared for her to fight back, so I stumbled backwards before sitting down hard.

I stared up at her and rubbed at my aching jaw. "Damn, you hit hard for such a scrawny wimp," I jeered.

"I should..." she muttered, stepping toward me, and I felt a small shiver run down my back as she stared at me. "I should...kill..." Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Fuck. Who knew she had it in her? But that shiver... I knew a predator when I saw one, and when I looked into her eyes I'd seen the hard light of a fighter. Where the hell did that come from? And it might have just been a trick of the light, but I could have sworn that when I looking at her her eyes were red. Had she become a parahuman?

...Pfft, yeah, like that weakling would become a parahuman. Still, the look in her eyes was the same as mine. Guess there was a second predator at the school after all.

After the paramedics arrived and carted Taylor away, I made my appropriate excuses and slipped away to the nurse, ostensibly for some ice for my jaw. Taylor's punch had stung, yeah, but it looked worse than it actually was. The real reason I went to the nurse was so that I could meet up with Emma and Clements and talk to them.

"You're kidding, right? All that work, and you want us to back off?" Clements whined.

I glared at her. "Look, you weren't there, okay? Trust me when I say that backing off now is the best course of action. So go tell all your little groupies to leave off if or when she comes back to school."

"Fine," Clements sighed, flouncing away.

After the nurse's door closed behind her, I sat back and pressed the bag of ice against my jaw. Silently, Emma watched me. "Is she strong now?" she asked finally.

"Christ, Emma," I sighed. "Your lady-boner is showing."

She rolled her eyes. "You know what I'm talking about. Did it work? Is she strong like me now?"

Not exactly like you. Taylor's actually strong, not just pretending. "Yeah," I told her. "Shit, you should have seen her eyes. Like she really did want to kill me."

Emma beamed. "I'm happy. Now Taylor can be our friend, like before."

I shrugged. "If she wants to be."

"Of course she will. I'm sure once I explain everything she'll be grateful!"

"Maybe give her some space for a bit," I said. "Seriously, you didn't see her eyes. Trust me on this one. People with eyes like that are usually bad news."

Emma frowned, before she nodded. "Your extracurricular activities?" she asked, using the phrase that we'd agreed on to keep things as secret as possible.

"Yeah. The big guys always have eyes like Taylor's were." I shrugged. "I don't fuckin' know. Maybe she'll thank you, maybe she'll try to stab you. Not my problem, really." Emma just laughed.

A week passed, and Taylor returned to school from the hospital - I'd heard they'd taken her to the psych ward to make sure she wasn't too messed up in the head. I was waiting for her by her locker - they'd actually replaced the entire thing, since I'm pretty sure they needed a hazmat team to clean the inside out. A new door and everything - and when she showed up I looked at her. She shrank back slightly, stopping a few feet away from me and doing her best not to look at me. I studied her for a few seconds, trying to figure out if I really had been imagining things when she'd been staring at me after punching me; after a few seconds, I snorted. "Whatever. See ya around, Hebert."

I'm not entirely sure what happened, but as I turned to walk away every instinct in my body screamed at me to get away; I stiffened, refusing to give in to my base urges and walked away. When I was a safer distance away, I looked back, glancing over my shoulder - to see that Taylor had been watching me the whole time, her eyes following me unerringly. Another shiver went down my spine and I smirked. Yeah... About time we had another powerful one here.

At lunchtime, Emma sighed and slumped into the seat across from me. "I don't get it..." she complained. "Taylor just seemed tired when I told her why we did what we did."

"Just tired? Nothing else?"

"No, just tired. She didn't seem to be holding a grudge or anything like that, though," Emma added almost as an afterthought. "She... I don't know, it's like she's kinda just humoring me. I thought she'd be grateful I made her strong!"

"Hi party people!" Clements chirped as she sat down beside Emma, putting her tray down. "What's happening?"

"Talking about Taylor," Emma replied.

"Why would you talk about _her_?"

Emma's eyes narrowed. "Because we were friends," the red-head hissed venomously. "And if everything works out we'll be friends again."

Clements blinked. "Oh. Um... Sorry?" Emma crossed her arms and glared at the smaller girl. "I said sorry!"

"Anyway," I said, "Madison, you told the other girls to stay away from Hebert from now on, right?"

"I did. A lot of them were just doing it because we were, so it wasn't too hard to tell them to stop." She shrugged. "There might be a few that keep trying."

I narrowed my eyes. "Well, make them stop trying, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah," she sighed. "When I finish lunch." I exchanged a brief glance with Emma and the red-head just shrugged. Well, not much we can do about it anyway - if anything, it would probably be better to stay away from Taylor for the time being.

* * *

 **1.2 Klaus**

"...and so she says, 'I'm Jewish!'"

Eli roared with laughter. "No fucking way, man. You're shitting me!"

"No way!" Nick grinned. "Hundred percent serious."

I chuckled. "You still _finished_ , right?"

Nick rolled his eyes at me. "Duh, dumbass. What do I look like, you?"

"Very funny, ass." I grinned at him and pounded my fist into my palm. "Do I have to hurt you?"

He laughed. "Oh, spare me from your wrath!"

After a moment of further posturing, we all broke down and laughed. Nick and Eli were probably my best friends - we'd all grown up in the same neighborhood, gone to the same school, and joined the same gang. To be entirely fair, it was the only gang that made sense; nobody with any self-respect would join up with the Merchants, and the ABB only took Asian members. And since the three of us were white, we'd joined up with the Empire Eighty-Eight. They were actually doing something to clean up the streets, unlike the other gangs; I might not have bought into their rhetoric entirely, but that didn't change the fact that we were the only ones doing anything helpful. I mean, the ABB were a bunch of violent gangbangers, and the Merchants were, well... the Merchants. Even the PRT dogs, slaves to their public appearance, couldn't do anything. Only the E88 were acting to do anything; only we were actually helping clean up the city.

"Heads up boys," Eli said, staring down the street. "We've got one."

"Tch," Nick spat. "A nigger. Wonder if this one's got anything worth it." Unlike me, Nick bought into the dogma religiously. It had been a week before he started using the names; a week after that and he'd been actively looking for targets.

The three of us walked up and stopped in front of the black woman carrying a big purse. "Can I help you?" she asked archly.

"Yeah," Eli said. "Follow us and you might not get hurt. Don't say anything, don't look around, don't cry for help. If you do, well, I can't guarantee these two gentlemen won't take matters into their own hands." Nick and I cracked our knuckles, looming over his shoulders; at six feet tall, we were the muscles of the group.

The black woman was frightened, but followed us into the alley. "Now, give us the purse," Nick growled, holding out one meaty hand. "If you've got anything valuable in there, we might let you go." The woman hesitated, eyes darting between us - and then she swung the bag at his face, striking him on the side of his head. "Gah, fuck! The hell is in there, bricks?!" I didn't respond; I was too busy grabbing the woman and slamming her against the brick wall of the alley.

"That was dumb," I told her. Then I clenched a fist and drove it into her stomach. "Real dumb. Nick, you doing okay?"

"Fuck me, my eye's gonna be black and blue for a week," he grumbled.

"Good to know I can stand looking at you for that long, then."

"Go fuck yourself, Klaus." Face twisted in anger, he glowered at the woman; I let go of her coat and she slumped to the ground, gasping for air. He brought his leg back and kicked her in the ribs, and I'm pretty sure I heard something crack. Her ribs, if her whimper of pain was any indication. "Dirty nigger, think you can hurt me and get away with it? Huh?!"

"Dude, you better slow down," Eli cautioned him. "You -"

"Think it matters if she dies?" he snarled. "She's filth! Subhuman! Like all the rest of her disgusting kind." He punctuated his words with another kick to her ribs, and she curled up onto her side, crying. "Once she's dead we can -"

The sounds of footsteps made us all freeze and look for the source; the footsteps faltered and stopped, and we stared at the figure that had stumbled onto our alleyway mugging. It took me a second to realize that they were female; the only real clue I had was the long black hair that hung in long curls. Everything else about them was just... meh. Eli swore under his breath and reached a hand into his pocket. "Up against the wall," he ordered her, pulling out a pocket knife and flipping it open. "Now!" he roared when the girl stood there, frozen. He waved the knife at her and she moved, eyes wide in her pale face. "Christ..." Eli muttered, shaking his head. "This can't get any worse."

Savagely, Nick gave the woman another kick to the stomach, and she coughed in response, a wet burbling sound. She coughed again and then spat out blood; it was a crimson splatter. Not very much. Nick was looking at the woman and Eli was rummaging through her purse, so I was the only one to see how the girl's eyes snapped to the blood and were riveted there. She wasn't staring at us or the knife still gleaming in Eli's hand. Slowly, as though she was in a trance, she stumbled towards the woman, mouth hanging open. "Hey!" Eli snapped, looking over in time to see her leave the wall. "The hell you doing?" He swiped out with the knife, trying to get her to back off and go back to the wall, and the knife slashed open a gash on her forearm.

She froze entirely, as if her entire body was made of stone. Eli turned back to the purse, gesturing with his head at me to get the girl back against the wall. Shrugging, I approached her - and then froze as I reached out to grab her shoulder. Blood had started flowing from her wound and her eyes were locked on the small droplets. Slowly, she brought her arm up to her mouth and licked at the blood, leaving a red smear over her pale skin. Wincing at how gross what she'd just done was, I placed my hand on her shoulder. "Get against the wall," I told her. When she didn't move, I tightened my grip. "I said..." I tried to force her to move, but she didn't budge an inch.

Instead, she started laughing. "What was I so worried about?" she breathed. "This feeling..." She glanced at her arm again, and I followed her gaze to see that aside from the red streak of the drying blood there wasn't a scratch on her. "It's so wonderful!"

My world just shifted in the next second as I found myself flying through the air only to slam into the brick wall hard enough to crack several of them. I fell to the ground, groaning in agony. "Cape!" I managed to shout despite the lancing pain that went through my chest.

"Shit!" Eli swore, turning to look. The girl just laughed again, madness running through the sound, and moved forward far faster than the rest of us humans could. Eli slashed with the knife again and the girl effortlessly batted it aside; as blood sprayed from her palm, the blade of the knife snapped with a sickening crack. Eli dropped the knife with a scream, clutching at his hand, and I realized the crack had been his arm. "G-Get away!" he shouted, stumbling backwards. I watched with horror as the girl reached out and grabbed his face, slamming him against the wall with his feet dangling in the air. Eli screamed as she tightened her grip before opening her mouth and plunging her teeth into his throat. The scream turned into a terrifying gurgle as he flailed, trying to get away from her; still, the girl kept at it, her teeth buried in his flesh.

"Get away from him, bitch!" Nick shouted, leaving the black woman to fight off the cape. He punched her and she was knocked away from Eli; she hadn't let go of his throat, so his throat was torn out with a spray of blood that coated Nick's face. "Fucker!" I slowly started trying to push myself to my feet. The last time I'd felt like this was during the initiation... Fuck, probably got some broken ribs. Then Nick screamed in pain and I looked to see that the girl had literally torn his arm off, discarding it to the side. Nick shouted something incoherent and tried to turn to run; he made it two steps before tripping over garbage on the ground and crashing to the ground. Instantly, the girl had pounced and was at his throat, her teeth sunk deep in the flesh.

I took a step back, unable to tear my eyes away, and I kicked a can on the ground. Her head snapped up to stare at me, and I felt paralyzed. I couldn't do anything but stand there shuddering as she stood up, absently stepping on Nick's motionless body as she approached me, her eyes never leaving mine. Her red eyes were so beautiful, I couldn't look away. As she stopped in front of me, I couldn't even breathe. Her jaws cracked open, far wider than should be possible and filled with sharp pointed fangs.

I felt a sharp pain at my neck, and then nothing.

I just felt cold as darkness claimed me.

* * *

 **1.3 PHO**

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* * *

 **Topic: Alley Cannibal?**  
 **In: Boards ► Places ► America ► Brockton Bay Discussion**  
 **Ekul** (Original Poster)  
Posted On Jan 19th 2011:  
So, there's been been these rumors going around that apparently there's some person going around and attacking people more or less at random.

Nobody's managed to see them, but it's always the same result in the end - an alley soaked in blood and a body (or bodies) that's been torn to shreds, usually in several pieces. Rumor has it that the bodies are missing huge chunks of flesh, like someone's been eating the kill.

I haven't managed to find any pictures of one of the crime scenes, though. Anyone else know anything?

(Showing page 1 of 45)

► **ArchmageEin**  
Replied On Jan 19th 2011:  
Holy shit, is this for real?

► **Alicornication** (Verified Awesome)  
Replied On Jan 19th 2011:  
This is kinda frightening... I hope that OP is just making things up to scare people. I don't want to think there's a cannibal roaming around in BB!

► **Ekul** (Original Poster)  
Replied On Jan 19th 2011:  
Re:Alicornication  
I'm not making this shit up! I know this guy in E88 (long story, don't ask :p) and he said that three of their dudes got hit like last week.

► **Brocktonite03** (Veteran Member)  
Replied On Jan 19th 2011:  
Fuck, first we have the parahumans, and now this? Is there any hope that this is just the work of that one dog cape?

► **All_Seeing_Eye**  
Replied On Jan 19th 2011:  
Re:Brocktonite  
Dog cape? I think you're referring to Bitch, the one that makes dogs grow into monsters.

Anyway, I'm fairly certain this has to be the work of some parahuman. I don't have any pictures, but I checked out one of the alleys (after the police left) and it was massively trashed. Almost reminded me of Collateral Damage Girl - the bricks were pulverized - but she at least turns in the bad guys.

► **Ne1** (Veteran Member)  
Replied On Jan 19th 2011:  
This is some serious shit if it's true. You think one of the capes from the Merchants or the ABB did this?

► **White Fairy** (Veteran Member)  
Replied On Jan 20th 2011:  
Re:Ne1  
Nah, I doubt it, unless Lung got a craving for some meat! In all seriousness, though, if the wiki's right then none of the capes in BB could do this.

► **XxVoid_CowboyxX**  
Replied On Jan 21st 2011:  
It must be a new cape!

► **o realisticFantasy o** (Verified Awesome)  
Replied On Jan 21st 2011:  
Oh man, wonder what their power is. Maybe we should call them Carnage! XD

► **bothad**  
Replied On Jan 21st 2011:  
Re:Realistic  
Carnage sounds like a villain's name. What if the parahuman's a hero?

End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 43, 44, 45

...

(Showing page 45 of 45)

► **SpecificProtagonist  
** Replied On March 28th, 2011:  
Re:Stalking_Tanuki  
I've heard that Carnage wears a red coat! So don't wear one of those and stay away from alleys.

Edit: Oopsie! Red, not read!

► **IscAAriot**  
Replied On March 29th, 2011:  
Carnage is our sins made manifest! Repent, heretics, and accept Jesus Christ as your lord and savior! Carnage shall consume all who refuse, and I shall bear witness and assist in their righteous task!

 **This user has received an infraction for this post.  
** **-Threats are not tolerated in this forum. Take a few days off to cool down. - Tin_Mother**

► **TheCrimsonFckr  
** Replied On April 2nd, 2011:  
I saw Carnage! ...Or someone that's wearing a red coat, anyway :P

I still say Carnage is a fuck-mothering vampire!

► **Stalking_Tanuki** (Awesomest Writing-tan)  
Replied On April 2nd, 2011:  
Re:Crimson  
Auuuuu~! Vampires are scary! Tanuki is shivering!

► **Gallant** (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)  
Replied On April 3rd, 2011:  
Vampire or not, it's still an abuse of parahuman powers. The Wards and the Protectorate are keeping an eye out for Carnage and are doing our best to keep the people of Brockton Bay safe.

If you see Carnage, please run.

End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 43, 44, 45

* * *

 **Author's note in final chapter.**


	2. Soldier

**2.1 Sophia**

I kept my eye on Taylor over the next few months, watching her warily. I mean, it wasn't like one day she came to school and started trying to kill me or anything; hell, she didn't even try to get back at me for the bullying. Any other person, I'd think I was wrong about thinking she was strong. But I knew I was right, because every now and then I'd see her staring at me from across the room and a shiver would run down my spine. Fuck me, it felt good, getting that feeling and knowing there was another predator at the school.

Emma kept trying to be friends with Taylor - she was smart enough not to be too overt about it, but I knew what she was trying to do. She wouldn't ever sit down at lunch with Taylor, but she'd always make sure there was an empty spot at the table she _was_ sitting at, and stuff like that. Occasionally she'd even try talking to Taylor if Taylor was alone and it was just me and Clements with her, but every time she did that Taylor just stared at her blankly until Emma gave up again. It was like she wasn't trying to be hostile or rude, but she just didn't care enough to actually pretend.

"Morning, Sophia."

I turned around. "Hey, Emma."

"Did you finish that art project we had to do? It was soooo lame..." Emma sighed.

I shrugged. "I got it done, but I had to cut corners. I was busy last night."

"I heard," Emma grinned. "Anyway, I think - oh, Taylor!" I glanced over my shoulder to see her waving at Taylor, and I sighed. Damn it, Emma, again with the lady-boner?

"Yo, Hebert," I gave a half-hearted wave. As usual, Taylor didn't -

"Good morning." Holy shit, she talked? Wait, fuck, was she _smiling_ at us?

Emma was over the fucking moon. "It is, isn't it? Did you do the art project?"

Taylor calmly patted her backpack. "I have it here." No way this is going down so nicely. There's gotta be some sort of catch. She can't just randomly start being nice. While she and Emma chatted more or less cordially, I watched Taylor with narrowed eyes, trying to figure out what was going on. She might have been walking a little differently? I think her personality's been changing a little bit since she came out of the locker, but I can't tell if that's just her going back to how she used to act or not. I'd have to ask Emma later. "Is something wrong, Sophia?" she asked me suddenly, and I jerked. "You're, um... staring."

"Are you feelin' okay, Hebert?" I asked her bluntly. Subtlety wasn't exactly my strong suit. "You're acting weird."

"I feel -" Just as she was in the middle of dismissing my question, she trailed off and her eyes widened. "Excuse me," she mumbled. "I need to go to the bathroom." She hurried off, ignoring Emma's brief offer to go with her. Weird.

"I hope she's okay," Emma sighed.

I looked at her. "Yo, Emma, question. Was she always like..." I nodded in the direction Taylor had disappeared to. "Like that? Y'know, before."

Emma placed a well-manicured fingernail to her lips and looked up in thought. "I don't _think_ so. She was always bouncing from idea to idea, never settling on one thing for long. Now, she seems a little more... stable? Grown up, maybe?"

"Whatever," I sighed.

"Why did you want to know?"

I shrugged. "Just wondering." The bell rang, and I swore. "If I'm late for class any more times, they'll tell my minder."

"Do you even care?"

"If I want to keep going out and being useful, then yeah," I snapped. 'Cause that bitch would tell Piggy, and then Piggy would happily throw me into juvie, like she'd said so often before. "Hey, where's Clements? Isn't she usually here by now?"

Emma just shrugged. "Not like she's my problem to deal with. Anyway, didn't she say she had to talk to one of her-"

"Listen to me when I'm asking you a question, bitch! Or are you too dumb to understand? Maybe we were right about you!"

"Fuuuck," I swore, drawing it out. "That's one of her toadies, isn't it." Emma nodded. "She's picking on Taylor, isn't she." Again with the nod. "Fuck, this is bad."

"You keep saying it's bad to pick on Taylor," Emma said slowly. "I mean, I'm _very_ mad right now, but is it really so bad as you're making it out to seem?"

I was going to answer when the screaming started. "That answer your question?" I spat. I ran toward the shouting and screaming, my stride clearing the ground with ease. Hey, I wasn't the star of the track for nothing. "Move it!" I growled when a pair of girls was in my way from getting to Taylor and whoever was dumb enough to push her. I pushed my way through the crowd of curious students to see what was going on. "Ohhh, shit."

Taylor was holding a girl. In the air. With one hand.

Shit, she really _was_ a parahuman. She... what was that word Halbeard used? 'Triggered'? But she couldn't have been one for long, or she'd have been smart enough not to show off in public. Had the idiot really pissed her off that much?

"You didn't tell me she was a cape!" Clements hissed, and I glanced over and down to see her standing there, eyes wide.

"Didn't you tell them to stop picking on Hebert?" I growled.

"I thought you meant, like, stop being obvious about it!"

"Dumbass," I grumbled. Then I stepped forward. "Hey, Hebert, calm down, okay?"

"Sophia, what -" Clements shouted.

I glanced back at her and rolled my eyes, then looked back over at Taylor. "Just put the girl down and we'll be fine, got it? I'm pretty sure you're not thinking straight right now."

"Oh, I'm thinking very clearly," she growled, looking at me, and I swallowed. She was _pissed_ \- and her eyes were blood-red. "Because of what you three did, I've never thought more clearly in my life. I feel like I should thank you."

I grimaced. Great, was she actually holding a grudge? "Shit, Hebert, if you're pissed at us you're pissed at us. Don't take it out on that stupid bitch, okay? She ain't worth it."

"Fuck...you..." the dumb blonde bitch gasped out, still struggling to breathe around Taylor's tight grip.

Taylor frowned in confusion. "Take it out on..." Slowly, she turned to look at her arm, then up it to see that she was holding a girl several inches off the ground. Her eyes widened, no longer red, and she dropped the girl. "Wh-what was I..." She turned and ran through the crowd and out the entrance of the school.

"Hebert, wait!" I shouted, but it was too late; she was gone. "Fuck!" I kicked the girl on the ground, getting tired of her pitiful gasps for air. "Get up, you're not gonna die."

"Bitch," the girl rasped, rubbing her throat.

"Yeah, yeah, bite me." I turned and walked through the crowd, pulling out my working cell phone and dialing.

"Console," a bored-sounding voice replied once it went through.

I sighed before looking around; it was the morning and nobody was walking the streets, so it was safe. "It's Shadow Stalker. A girl at my school just revealed that she was a parahuman. Some girl was bitching her out and she picked her up with one hand."

There was a pause. "Shadow Stalker, this is Assault," a new voice said, and I sighed. At least it wasn't Piggy or that uptight bitch Miss Militia. I swear, half the time those two just tried to piss me off. "Where is the new parahuman?"

"Fucked if I know," I told him. "She took off running. I'm not entirely sure she knew what she was doing."

"Alright. I'm sending Vista your way. Are you in costume?"

"I'm looking for a place to change right now, I have it with me."

"Roger. Once you're in costume, meet up with Vista. We'll try to find the girl before then and direct you to her location." The line went dead.

I sighed and slipped the phone back into my pocket. Well, at least I didn't have to go to class. Silver linings and all that bullshit. Glancing around, I ducked into a nearby alley and quickly and efficiently switched clothes into my costume. I stopped getting squeamish about that a while ago. After I was suited up and masked, I jumped into the air, turning to shadow halfway to float to the roof. Mover ratings are fucking awesome.

I landed on the roof without a sound and stretched, working out the kinks in my spine. I'd had a late night last night - three bodies only, since a lot of people were staying off the streets thanks to the rumor that there's this cannibal going around and eating people. I'd been looking for this 'Carnage' the past few weeks, but I could never find them. I put my earpiece in and tapped it twice. "Shadow Stalker in position," I announced.

"Roger, Shadow Stalker, approaching you now." That was Vista; a second after she said that, space warped to my right and she appeared by my side.

I glanced at her. "Hey, runt." Her lips twisted, but she didn't say anything. She didn't like me and I didn't give two shits, so whatever. "Right, Control, where's the girl?"

"And hello to you too, Shadow Stalker," quipped Assault. "No polite greeting?"

"You can take your polite greeting and shove it up your ass," I grumbled. Assault didn't give a damn about language, unlike all those other pansies in the Protectorate, so I could get away with it. "Where is she?"

Assault laughed. "Okay, okay. Calm down. We've got a tentative lock on her location, pretty sure she's in the Boardwalk. Going at a fairy good pace, too, so maybe jogging?"

Vista nodded. "Roger. We're on our way." The runt always tried to act so grown up, it's laughable.

"Remember," Assault said as I launched myself toward the Boardwalk with long power-assisted leaps and Vista warped space, compressing it so that she could try to keep up with me, "we're trying to convince her to calm down and join the Wards. That means no threats and no fighting. Shadow Stalker, this goes double for you. From your report she's a Brute, which means she can take you two apart with her bare hands." Meh, I can take her. If she grabs for me, I'll just turn to shadow and back off before shooting her with those stupid tranq darts they make me carry around.

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled. "She's in sight." I landed on a nearby rooftop and waited for the pipsqueak to catch up; after a few seconds, the space twisted and Vista stepped forward, next to me. "The girl goes to the same school as me," I told her. "You take point."

"Roger." With a small grunt, she jumped off the rooftop, immediately flashing to the ground. I followed her a second later, floating to the ground in my shadow state before turning solid again. "Excuse me!" she called out, and Taylor twitched, coming to a halt and whirling around. "Hi there."

"Vista and Shadow Stalker," she said, not moving. "What do two Wards want with me?"

Vista smiled. "We got a call this morning, saying you used a parahuman power against a civilian."

"I didn't mean to," Taylor mumbled, shrinking into herself.

"We know," Vista soothed her. "New triggers are often unused to their powers and we don't hold it against them. Instead, we usually try to approach them and help them get trained. That's why we're here, actually," she continued, the two of us approaching Taylor. "Nobody was hurt today, but if you don't know the limits of your own strength accidents can happen."

Taylor glanced at her uncertainly. "What are you saying?"

Vista beamed at her. "The Wards are where Shadow Stalker and I learned how to use our powers safely!" Pfft, yeah, right. Like I needed to learn anything from those idiots - they just tell me what I can and can't do. Like these fucking stupid bolts. At least I have a few of the good ones stashed away under my bunk. "From what we heard, you've got a Brute rating at least, but there might be aspects of your power you don't know, and the Protectorate can help you learn all about it."

I had to give grudging credit to the runt, she knew how to spin things good. The wind shifted and blew in from behind me, and I felt a small shiver run down my spine at the sudden cold air. "I don't k-know," Taylor stammered hesitantly. "I just got -" She froze suddenly and sniffed at the air. "That smell... Sophia..." Her eyes narrowed and she stared at the two of us, suddenly stiff. "You. Shadow Stalker. You're..."

Uh-oh. "Hey, Hebert, calm down, okay?" I said, raising my hands. "No need for giving away my -"

"You're a _hero_?" she growled, and I stepped back. Okay, shit was going downhill fast. "I can't believe... No. Everything makes sense, now. How you got away with everything. How you got away with shoving me into that locker." Her eyes were a brilliant crimson now, and I slowly reached for my crossbow.

"Locker? What is she talking about?" Vista asked me, looking back and forth between the two of us.

"Oh, hasn't she told you?" Taylor asked, still staring at me. "I'd have thought she'd be bragging all about how she shoved a girl into a locker full of blood and insects."

I narrowed my eyes. That's what showed she was strong, so why is she bitching? I made her _better_. "Bite me, Hebert."

"With pleasure!" She lunged forward, far faster than I expected, and slammed a fist toward my gut. An instant before it hit me, the space between my stomach and her fist expanded; it wasn't enough time for me to shift to shadow state, but it was enough to let me avoid having a new hole through my body. Still, Taylor hit like a fucking truck and I was sent flying backwards until I slammed into a popcorn cart.

"Shadow Stalker, report," Assault snapped. "What's going on?"

I shook my head to clear it and tried to push myself to my feet, ignoring the massive vise that seemed to be clamped around my midsection. "The girl and I know each other from school. We might - ah! - have a bit of history. She figured out who I was, I think from sniffing the air or some shit, and then punched me across the boardwalk."

There was silence across the comms. "Shadow Stalker, this is Armsmaster," came the voice of ol' Halbeard himself. How nice of him to grace us with his presence. "We'll discuss this matter at later. For now, back off - the girl hasn't moved after her initial attack and isn't threatening Vista. Your presence disturbs her."

I snarled under my breath. They were making me back down and pretend like I lost. I don't lose. I _never_ lose. "Fine," I snapped after a second. "Whatever." Pricks. Bastards. Fuck them.

* * *

 **2.2 Rune**

Christ, how long can it take for a bunch of Tinkers to just drop off their shit and leave?

"...And included in this box is..." The Mover kept droning on and on, completely oblivious of the way I'd stopped paying attention about ten minutes ago. The Toybox had a good reputation; I trusted that they wouldn't jeopardize it by shortchanging us or attempting to rip us off. If we'd been dealing with the ABB? I'd be demanding to search through the boxes inch by inch to make sure those savages hadn't skimped on the materials.

A few seconds of blessed silence passed before I realized he'd stopped talking and was holding something in front of me; I took the proffered clipboard and pen and scribbled a quick signature before handing it back. The Mover - I probably should have recognized him, but he was one of the Toybox's Movers and so wasn't important to the Empire - nodded, glanced over the shipment one last time to make sure everything was in order, and then disappeared into thin air with a small crack.

"Alright," I shouted, rising into the air on my chunk of concrete and spinning to face the assembled members of the E88 that had been waiting patiently. This was my first solo mission where I had command over any of our non-cape members, and even though it was just picking up the Tinker-made guns Kaiser had ordered and guarding them while the men loaded them into the truck, I was determined not to let him or my uncle down. "We've got the goods, load them up into the truck and we can get out of this dank hellhole." It smelled like Merchants. Eugh.

The four men cheered at the announcement that we'd be done soon and swarmed the two crates, picking them up with ease. I could have just floated them under my power, and it would honestly have been faster, but Kaiser insisted that we keep this as quiet as possible. I guess since we were picking up super powerful weapons, he wanted us to keep it under wraps as long as possible, which made sense, and two fairly large crates floating through the air weren't exactly subtle. So, while the men carried the two crates, I floated through the air beside them and occupied myself by reading the manuals that the Mover had dropped off.

Let's see here... 'Thank you for purchasing your new weapons from the Toybox. Your purchase includes one year of maintenance and ammunition resupply at a discount; all further maintenance and resupply is at full price.' Okay, yeah, that's great, I'm not the one buying this stuff. Let's get to the fun parts. Nope, nope, not it, nada... Here we go, combat specs. 'The ARMS .454 Casull Auto is a semi-automatic handgun. Weight, unloaded, is approximately 6 kg. Barrel is ten inches long and finished with titanium nitride. Ammunition is custom-made explosive rounds, steel bullets with a core made from melted silver. One magazine is included with the order; due to design and good old-fashioned Tinker ingenuity courtesy of our own Dodge, the magazine holds exactly one million bullets.' Wait, shit, seriously? Fuckin' Tinkers. 'Please note that this gun is extremely heavy and as such should only be used by Brutes. In addition, this gun is intended for use against Brutes, specifically those with regenerative abilities or enhanced durability. The bullets are extremely powerful. Cleaning and assembly are as follows.' Putting down the manual, I whistled lightly. Damn, that's kinda impressive. A gun that could blow apart a Brute? I wonder how it'd work on that Aegis asshole in the Wards.

What about the other one? 'The ARMS 13 mm Auto Anti-Brute Combat Pistol: Jackal' - Yeah, okay, calling it the Jackal because fuck that - 'is a specialized pistol designed for eliminating Brutes with a high-rated regenerative ability. Weight, unloaded, is approximately 16 kg. Barrel is sixteen inches and finished with a specially-made compound. Ammunition is custom-made explosive rounds, thirteen-millimeter bullets jacketed with silver and tipped with a hollow point containing an explosive charge of mercury. One magazine is included with the order; due to design and good old-fashioned Tinker ingenuity courtesy of our own Dodge, the magazine holds exactly one million bullets. Please note that this gun is designed for use with the left hand; the ejection slide faces to the left to avoid obscuring the user's view. The bullets are extremely powerful in their own right, and the mercury charge is designed to slow and/or eliminate regeneration entirely. Please note that this gun is extremely heavy and as such should only be used by Brutes.' The rest of it was the same junk as the Casull - all about basic maintenance and cleaning.

The truck was just inside our territory, and we were still deep in Merchant-stink, so I went back and read over all the stuff I skipped. Twice.

When I finally got tired of reading the manuals, I set them down and sighed. Damn. That's some serious firepower in those crates. Wonder why Kaiser wants them? Oh, maybe they're for Ness and Jess. That would be pretty cool to see, though I'm not sure if the twins will give up their weapons right now. ...But wait, wouldn't it just grow with them? Would they be able to use the weapons, or would the growing screw with the pocket dimensions Dodge installed in the magazines? That would -

"Shit!"

I blinked, head snapping up. I began to demand that the guy explain what exactly he swore about when the words died in my throat, giving me a sick feeling in my stomach. Red coat... All alone... Shit, was this Carnage? "Who the fuck are you?" I snapped, feeling around with my power. I'd touched plenty of objects on my way here, just in case, and I was glad I did. "You that freak we've been hearin' about? The one that eats people?"

"Don't mind me," the girl said. "I'm just out, taking a walk."

"Then turn around and walk away," I told her, starting to rip signs out of the ground and bring to bear, hovering around me. It wasn't even hard. "Or things will get messy."

The girl in the red coat grinned, white teeth gleaming in the shadows. "Can I see what's in the box? I'm very curious."

"Get lost!" I shouted, flinging one of the dumpsters at her. It was slow enough that anyone could dodge it, but if she didn't dodge well then that's too bad.

The dumpster crashed into the ground and bounced, tumbling towards her, and the girl didn't try to get out of its path. Instead, she just drew back her fist and punched forward; she smashed the dumpster with the sound of screaming and tearing metal and it came to a halt. Startled, I used my power to force it to the side, and the girl flew with it, slamming into the wall with the sound of crunching bones. Shit, I didn't mean to actually kill her. Still, serves her right for being - I swore loudly as she threw the dumpster aside with one hand, looking perfectly unharmed. She lifted her head and I grimaced; red eyes and pointed teeth. Shit, this is Carnage. With a shout she lunged forward, only to jerk to the side when one of the men opened fire with the rifle slung on his back. The bullets tore into her body with sprays of blood and she jerked and twisted like a demented puppet. When her body was just shreds of meat, slumped on the ground, the men stopped firing. Just for good measure, I sent a few street signs streaking toward her, spearing her to the ground. I wasn't like Brad, I didn't _enjoy_ killing, but I knew when I needed to end a fight.

I gestured for the men to pick up the boxes again and keep moving. They complied, occasionally glancing at Carnage's ruined body. I snorted and turned, keeping lower to the ground. Carnage wasn't so tough after all, was she? And all these people were weeping about her on PHO. Pfft.

Suddenly, one of the men let out a shriek and I whirled to see Carnage standing there, her fingers through his throat. "Really? Is that all?" she giggled. "Rune of the Empire, you'll have to do better than that to entertain me." With another demented giggle, she opened her mouth and sank her teeth into the man's neck. He screamed in pain and fear, but his voice died soon enough as he did.

"Shit!" I swore. "Get the boxes back to the truck, I'll hold her off." She's just a regenerating Brute, I can take her down! I'd kill to use the guns, but they were in several pieces and I didn't have the time to put them together.

Carnage smiled, her pointed teeth stained red as she tore free from the dead man and let him flop to the ground. "See, that's adorable, really, that you think you can stop me." She took a step, then froze, her eyes flickering in color. For a second, they seemed to be almost glowing a dull red, then hidden in the shadows, then glowing again. "N-no... This isn't..." she whispered. "I'm not... I... Dad said..." What the fuck is her problem? I wasn't going to miss out on an opportunity, and I sent two heavy chunks of concrete flying toward from either side with a thought. They slammed together over and over again until they crumbled to pieces, and I let my hold on the little bits that remained drop. Carnage was pulverized.

As I watched, though, flying backwards slowly, her battered and broken body shuddered and pushed itself upright. She started moving towards me, slowly at first while her body was still damaged but as it healed rapidly her speed increased until she was running at me full-tilt. I jerked my concrete riding slab into the air and sent more of the street signs down, but she was ready for them this time. She dodged to the left, then right, the street signs crashing into the ground behind her. Fuck, of _course_ she's a Mover as well as a Brute. I snarled silently and lifted them into the air again, bringing them up to circle me even as I threw more chunks of rubble at her.

I launched a larger chunk of rubble at her and gaped in astonishment as she literally jumped onto the concrete slab and then pushed off again, soaring towards me. I hastily brought a shield of objects in front of me but her Brute strength shone again as she punched through them like they were just tissue paper, slamming her fist into my stomach. I was airborne - and not in the controlled way - for a second until I struck the ground, rolling and tumbling. It wasn't too - a breath sent a spike of agony through me and my vision went white as I shuddered, unable to move. Fuck... broken rib, probably. I laid there limply, focusing on my powers as Carnage slowly approached me. One... two... three... I realized I was counting the steps and forced myself to stop. As soon as I felt my power take hold I ripped the chunk of street I was lying on free and forced it to fly through the air. I felt so dizzy I could barely fly straight. I needed to get to the truck. Had to get to the truck. Had to get away...

I looked up cautiously and once the spots in my vision went away I could barely see the truck in the distance. Aw... shit.

I struggled to hang on to my fading consciousness; the buzzing was getting louder and I could only see in front of me. Tunnel vision, or something like that, I think I wasn't getting enough air or I'd hit my head or something. Something felt warm and sticky on my lip and I licked at it cautiously to taste blood. "This...sucks..." I breathed. "Gotta get...to the truck..." My vision swam and I tried to breathe a little more. I couldn't fail Kaiser, he'd kill me. Had to get the guns...

I looked up and the truck had gotten closer. When had that... oh, right, riding on the concrete. I tried to land on the roof of the truck, but my control wasn't fantastic and I almost fell off. I heard the men shouting and I took more shallow breaths, trying to get oxygen back into my system before I passed out entirely.

Suddenly, there was a crunching sound and I was flung forward, losing what little control over my power I had left and tumbling to the ground. I was treated to the sight of Carnage ripping through the front of the truck to the screams of the men inside. My vision faded and the screams went silent, and I blinked my eyes open to see that the truck was a gory ruin. Had I passed out? Carnage stepped around in front of me and crouched down, lifting my head by the hood of my robes. "That was fun," she said, smiling broadly. Blood had trickled down her chin. "Now, Rune, scream for me."

I tried to spit in her face. I tried to laugh. I didn't have the breath to do either. I didn't have the breath to scream.

She started.

I screamed anyway.

* * *

 **2.3 PHO**

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* * *

 **Topic: Alley Cannibal?**  
 **In: Boards ► Places ► America ► Brockton Bay Discussion**  
 **Ekul** (Original Poster)  
Posted On Jan 19th 2011:  
So, there's been been these rumors going around that apparently there's some person going around and attacking people more or less at random.

Nobody's managed to see them, but it's always the same result in the end - an alley soaked in blood and a body (or bodies) that's been torn to shreds, usually in several pieces. Rumor has it that the bodies are missing huge chunks of flesh, like someone's been eating the kill.

I haven't managed to find any pictures of one of the crime scenes, though. Anyone else know anything?

(EDIT): Holy shit! Someone posted a [VIDEO] of Carnage throwing down with Rune! This is the first confirmed sighting of Carnage. (NSFW, like... holy shit. NSF humanity)

(Showing page 74 of 74)

► **Ekul** (Original Poster)  
Replied On April 8th 2011:  
Re:Grapejoint  
Added the video to the OP.

Holy shit. I just... holy shit.

► **Ne1** (Veteran Member)  
Replied on April 9th, 2011  
...WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST WATCH.

► **Krieg** (Verified Cape) (Empire 88)  
Replied On April 9th, 2011  
Carnage will pay for this. The Empire will not take this lying down.

 **-User has received an infraction for this post.  
-Threats aren't tolerated in this subforum. -Tin_Mother**

► **XxVoid_CowboyxX**  
Replied On April 13th, 2011  
[REDACTED]

 **-Speculation about cape identities is forbidden under the Terms of Service.  
-Enjoy your seven days off. -Tin_Mother**

► **GleamEyes808** (Verified Awesome)  
Replied On April 16th, 2011  
Um... I think that video might have sparked an all-out gang war, guys. I'm afraid to leave my house :(

► **Alicornication** (Verified Awesome)  
Replied On April 16th, 2011  
Re:GleamEyes  
'Sup, Verified Awesome buddy? *hi-fives*

On topic (-ish), I think that all the gangs are fighting among themselves now. I don't think Carnage meant to start this.

► **All_Seeing_Eye  
** Replied On April 17th, 2011  
...Am I the only one wondering what's in the boxes?

End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 72, 73, 74

* * *

 **Topic: Empire 88**  
 **In: Boards ► Gangs ► America ► Brockton Bay  
** **Bagrat** (The Guy In The Know)  
Posted On May 17th 2006:

Right, so this thread's gonna be the 'All about the E88' megathread, because this way we don't have a thousand individual threads.

Things we know:  
These guys are white supremacists. Think Nazis, only with super powers. Yeah.

They're the gang with the most cape muscle - 15 capes. Holy shit.

Cape breakdown (I'll add the PRT classifications when I find the time!):

Kaiser - Can control metal

Purity - Flies and shoots lasers.

Fenja/Menja - The twins can grow to become giants. One uses a spear, one has a shield. I'm not sure which :P

Hookwolf - Replaces his body with metal. Usually takes the shape of a giant wolf.

Stormtiger - Controls wind

Cricket - Enhanced reflexes and echolocation

Krieg - Kinetic manipulator within a certain radius

Fog - Changes into a living mist. Don't breathe in!

Night - When unobserved, turns into a monster

Victor - Steals skills from people he spends time with. Prolonged exposure renders loss of skill permanent

Othala - Grants any one of several temporary superpowers to people she touches. Among the powers she is known to be able to grant are pyrokinesis, invincibility, regeneration, and super-speed. She can't grant any of these to herself.

Crusader - Creates ghostly duplicates of himself and his possessions. They can pass through non-living stuff but not living things. He uses them to mimic flight.

Alabaster - His body resets states every 4.3 seconds

Rune - Can telekinetically control anything she touches. Upper weight limit is in the tons.

Edit - Dec. 13, 2008: Added Rune to the list.

The gang tag looks like three Es. If you see a tattoo like that, or if the person is a skinhead, chances are they're with the Empire.

(Showing page 284 of 302)

► **All_Seeing_Eye  
** Replied On April 12th, 2011  
It's a madhouse out there - gang members left and right shooting at each other. I heard that the Undersiders had a clash with the ABB recently.

► **Brocktonite03** (Veteran Member) **  
**Replied On April 12th, 2011  
This all started when Carnage fought and consumed Rune, right? So why is the rest of Brockton Bay going insane?

► **Bagrat** (The Guy In The Know)  
Replied On April 12th, 2011  
Re:Brocktonite03  
They're smelling the blood in the water. Carnage took out Rune, who by all accounts is a very heavy hitter. Even though she was young, she was powerful. Basically, the ABB took their chances and attacked Kaiser and his people, and the Merchants just started nibbling away at territory here and there. It just got a lot out of hand since the non-powered members are getting in on the action too.

► **Stalking_Tanuki** (Awesomest Writing-tan)  
Replied On April 12th, 2011  
Auuuu~ The streets are making bang bang noises and scaring tanuki~

► **Armsmaster** (Verified Cape) (Protectorate ENE)  
Replied On April 12th, 2011  
This is an emergency situation. All citizens should spend as little time on the streets as possible. Do not go out alone if possible.

► **Victory3114** (Verified Writer) **  
**Replied On April 12th, 2011  
This is all kinds of messed up. I saw a cape fight go down between the Merchants and the E88, and Krieg was rampaging. Why is he so mad?

► **All_Seeing_Eye**  
Replied On April 12th, 2011  
Re:Victory3114  
Rumor has it that Rune was his niece. And since she got eaten by Carnage, he's taking things personally. And I saw that fight too, looked like the Undersiders got away clean.

► **Victory3114** (Verified Writer) **  
**Replied On April 12th, 2011  
Re:ASE  
That's why they call them the 'Masters of Escape', after all! Or something like that, anyway.

► **Clockblocker** (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)  
Replied On April 12th, 2011  
I just saw that video of Rune and Carnage. Ergh... I might not have liked her, but nobody deserved _that_.

Also, that regeneration is bullshit. And trust me, Aegis said the same thing when he saw.

► **o RealisticFantasy o** (Verified Awesome)  
Replied On April 12th, 2011  
Um... I live on the edge of E88 territory (Merchants is the other part) and I keep getting woken up by gunshots. Should I be worried?

End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 283, 284, 285, ... 300, 301, 302

* * *

 **Topic: Carnage Discussion Thread**  
 **In: Boards ► Capes ► America ► Brockton Bay**  
 **Ekul** (Original Poster)  
Posted On April 14th, 2011

Just gonna shift this over here since the Alley Cannibal is most likely Carnage.

Carnage is a new, unknown cape. Costume is a red coat (an old style, like a college professor would wear) and no observable mask. Carnage is most likely female - the only real images of Carnage come from her fighting Rune from the E88.

I say fighting, but... um... yeah. (NSFW 'cause holy shit that blood)

Observed powers: Brute (regeneration, super strength) and Mover (super speed and enhanced reflexes, could be because of the super strength from Brute)

(Showing page 13 of 13)

► **TheCrimsonFckr  
** Replied On April 23rd, 2011  
Fucking called it! She's a fuck-mothering vampire! And she saves kids from asshole kidnappers.

► **Triumph** (Verified Cape)  
Replied On April 23rd, 2011  
The child is back home with her family, thanks to Carnage. The family wishes to thank her for rescuing their child.

► **IscAAriot**  
Replied On April 24th, 2011  
Lies! The whore of Babylon has spread her brethren among us and is rotting us from the inside out! Repent and convert, heathens!

► **TheCrimsonFckr**  
Replied On April 24th, 2011  
Re:IscAAriot  
Oh, go shove your dick in a turkey. Carnage saved the girl from the mercs and you're ranting? Weren't you saying she was our sins made manifest or some other religious bullshit like that earlier? Nice to see you changing your tune.

Edit: And aren't you named after _the_ Betrayer, anyway? Probably shouldn't b e casting stones where the fuck-mothering vampire can throw them right back.

► **All_Seeing_Eye**  
Replied On April 24th, 2011  
My best guess is that the mercs belong to Coil. None of the other supervillains hire people like that, and I think we all know that only a supervillain would try to kidnap a small child ;)

Edit: VV Oh, and apparently Coil was there in costume. Didn't mention that bit.

► **Pint-sized_ghost  
** Replied On April 24th, 2011  
We know that arleady, remember? The person that shot the video saw Carnage saying something to a guy in a black and white costume after trashing all the mercs.

End of page. 1, 2, 3, ... 11, 12, 13

* * *

 **2.4 Miss Militia**

I double-checked the address that Armsmaster had given me and then approached the house. The lowest step on the porch squeaked, and I winced at the reminder. This had been a nice neighborhood, once, back before the gangs started moving in. The paint was faded and the lawn hadn't been mowed for a while; the owners had just stopped trying at some point. The father was... a union leader, if I'm recalling the briefing correctly. His daughter went to Winslow, and that's where she encountered Sophia.

My gut churned as I recalled the image I'd been shown. How could _anyone_ , Ward or no, shove that filth into a locker, much less shove someone into it? That was appalling, and I hoped that the only reason Sophia wasn't locked in juvie right now was because we needed her to fight the villains currently running amok in this city. I was powerful, but I could only be so many places at once; and right now, I needed to be here and talking to Taylor Hebert. Armsmaster had offered to go in my place, but... he wasn't fantastic with kids. I gave my flag-patterned scarf one last tug, making sure it was snugly in place, and knocked on the door.

"Coming!" I heard someone call. Taylor? Well, it was in the middle of the day; I suppose her father was at work. The door opened a crack and I saw someone peek through. "Oh! You're... Miss Militia!"

"I am," I said with a smile. "You're Taylor Hebert, right?"

"Y-yeah. Um... come in," she said, opening the door fully. As I stepped in, she closed the door behind me and bolted it shut; good to see her taking the correct precautions. "Th-this is about what happened on the Boardwalk, right? Am I in trouble?"

I smiled behind my mask and shook my head. "You're not in any trouble," I said soothingly. "If we'd known that you and Shadow Stalker were on... less-than-pleasant terms, let's say, we'd have made sure she was nowhere near you."

Taylor sighed, and a small amount of tension went out of her shoulders. "Oh, okay..." she said quietly. "Um, I'd offer you some coffee or tea, but my dad doesn't drink things like that anymore and I don't have any prepared." She looked around and picked up a few papers, trying to tidy the house up. "I guess we can sit in the living room, if that's okay."

"That's fine," I assured her. We sat down and I studied the girl. She was fidgeting slightly, and I crossed my legs and smiled again. "So how are you, Taylor?"

"Uh... It's a little dangerous out there," she said, "but I'm doing okay." She grinned weakly. "I don't have to go to school, so that's kinda... nice, I guess." She sighed and looked at me cautiously. "You're here about me joining the Wards, aren't you?"

That was an abrupt topic shift, but I'd had worse; I worked with Armsmaster, after all. "I am," I told her. "Is your father here? He should at least be present."

"He's... not available."

I nodded. "Alright. As for joining the Wards, the streets aren't safe for new capes, and this is especially true now, with the gangs in all-out war. The Wards is the safest place for you - you can learn how to use your powers safely, and help make the city a safer place at the same time."

"I..." she whispered. "But... you let Sophia be a Ward. I can't -"

"Shadow Stalker has been dealt with," I said firmly. "We weren't aware of her actions, and now that we are she's been... moved."

Taylor's eyes narrowed. "Meaning you sent her to jail, but you're not going to admit to a Ward doing anything wrong because of your precious PR," she grumbled. I blinked, trying to avoid letting my surprise show. She'd seemed like a completely different person for a second there - more politically astute, almost. "She locked me in that... that locker and nobody cared."

"Taylor, do you know what a trigger event is?" She shook her head; it wasn't surprising, since most people didn't talk about it. "A trigger event is, more or less, the worst day of your life. It's when you get your powers."

She gasped. "Then... Then every cape -"

"The trigger events are unique," I told her. "What makes one person trigger might not make another trigger, and even if it does there's no guarantee they'll get the same power." I've read up on it. Since I normally don't sleep, there's eight extra hours in the day to fill, and I'd gone through my collection of paperbacks too many times to count. "Every cape is... well, to gain powers you have to experience the worst day of your life. And that breaks people."

"Doesn't mean she can just... do that," Taylor muttered quietly.

"No, it doesn't," I said. "And when I found out I was appalled. Both that the school had failed to report the incident and that the incident happened in the first place. Anything we can do to make things right, we will."

Taylor laughed bitterly. "So noble, brave hero," she said, and I focused on her again. Another shift in her personality? "But where were you when I was being bullied? Where were you when I was experiencing the last day of my life?"

I felt my stomach clench. I hated that feeling - and my power reacted, my omnipresent weapon shifting shape into a small pistol that found its way into my hand. I grimaced again and reholstered the weapon, not even bothering to look to see what pistol it was. "Taylor, there's nothing I can say that -"

"You're right. There isn't." Her eyes hardened. "Even the Empire is doing more to help clean up this city than the PRT dogs are. You're slaves to your public appearances and can't do a single thing." I narrowed my eyes. Again? Something was wrong. "You're only driving this city deeper into -"

A noise caught my attention; I held up my hand and she stopped talking, watching me cautiously. It was... an engine? My eyes widened and I shot to my feet, my pulse racing as I realized what was coming. "Get down!" I shouted to Taylor, my power twisting the pistol into a SCAR-L as I backed away from the wall closest to the sound.

"What's -" Taylor started to ask, rising to her feet.

That's when the wall exploded.

* * *

 **2.5 Skidmark**

WOO!

I'm on top of the fucking world! Heroin in my veins, my woman by my side, and our kickass ride rollin' through the town, what could be better?

Oh, I know. Knockin' down some fuckers' houses! "Punch it, bitch!" I shouted at Squealer.

"Fuck yeah!" she shouted back at me. "Let's wreck some shit! Woo!" The engine that she'd super-overcharged roared like a mother-fucking bull on steroids and slammed toward the house straight ahead of us. We laughed madly because god fucking DAMN that was fun. Merchants for life, BITCHES!

Squealer revved the engine and peeled to the side, letting us both see how we'd wrecked the joint. Stuck-up middle-class shit-hogs, living life in the lap of luxury like a bunch of spoiled little shits. See what that gets you? A fuckin' DOOM TRUCK through the wall, fuckers, that's what!

Then some asshat started firing a gun at us. I yelped as one of the bullets struck the window I had been looking through and swore loudly. "It's that gun bitch!" Squealer shouted after a look of horror at the damage to her baby disappeared. "Gonna fucking kill her! Nobody scratches my baby!"

"Squealer, baby, I love you for the bullet-proof glass," I told her. "Now let's go hit that bitch so hard and so fast she won't know which way is up!" As Squealer slammed the accelerator down, I drew on my power to layer a few strips down. One facing away from the car around the windshields so that bitch couldn't shoot at them no more, and one on the ground to make the car go faster to flatten that uptight bitch. "Let's shove that gun up her rancid cu-"

The DOOM TRUCK slammed to a halt, both Squealer and me gettin' rattled like my balls when I'm getting some me time. "The fuck?!" she snapped. "My baby!" Steam was rising from the hood.

"Get out!" a girl shouted. "Get out of the truck now!"

I looked over - it was just some scrawny twig of a bitch, glaring at us. "Fuckin' make us!" I shouted back after rolling the window. "Not like you can do anything! We're Merchants, cum-turkey!"

She snarled something and threw a rock. It rocketed forward like she'd shot it from a cannon and slammed into the windshield, but it didn't leave a crack. Bitch was a cape? "No way in hell she can get through this glass," Squealer told me. "Little bitch got lucky with her first throw and popped the radiator grill, probably. I knew I should have sprung for the extra plating!" She started ranting about her work, only to stop when another rock struck the windshield.

I grabbed the megaphone mouthpiece and hit the button to start talking. "Attention all bitches," I called gleefully, listening to my voice ring out. "You can toss those rocks all you want, but it ain't gonna do shit for dick against armor and glass _this_ thick! How thick is it? Well, ass-blenders, it's half as thick as my dick! So in other words, so thick you'd need a god-damn cannon to get through it!" I tossed the speaker to the dashboard and howled with laughter.

A loud explosion boomed out and the glass shattered. "What the fucking fuck?!" Squealer screamed as shards of glass rained down on us. "No fucking way that scarf bitch could break through this! I fucking know what she can do!"

I stared at the girl wearing a flapping red coat and holding a fucking hand cannon. "Oh fuck, that's a hand cannon," I said numbly as I stared at it, too fucked up to actually realize what'd just happened. Then it clicked. "Oh fuck, that's a hand cannon!" I shouted. It barked again and I hastily threw up as many strips as I could trying to deflect the bullet. That thing moved like a motherfucker though and it still ripped into the roof of the car, tearing a long strip through the metal before the bullet went flying through the sky.

I couldn't even get out of the car before the scrawny bitch had jumped up onto the hood, leaving huge dents in it, and smashed aside some shards of glass still in the frame. "You almost killed him!" she screamed. "You could have killed my father!"

"The fuck you talkin' 'bout, bitch!" I shouted right back, spitting in her face. "You tripping or something?" Without warning, I created several strips under her feet, layered together. At the same time, I made more strips under the glass on our car, pointed up towards her face. She tripped and fell face-first into the waiting glass spikes. "Yeah, get fucking fucked! Squealer, we're getting the hell out of here!"

"The engine's fucked," she told me after trying the pedals. "Little miss shit-licker here must have busted it when she hit the radiator."

"Fucking cock-sniffer," I swore. "Are the guns working? We can probably take out that hero bitch easy."

Squealer smiled widely. "Skiddy, I'd kiss you so fucking hard right now if we weren't about to fill a bitch with lead." She fiddled with the controls on the dashboard for a second and then giggled. "We can keep her pinned down, at least. They're still working."

"Okay, do that while I go get our men," I told her. "Teach her a lesson about our foot up her ass!"

"You got it!" Squealer hit a button on the dashboard and a turrent on top of our DOOM TRUCK swiveled and started firing.

I laughed crazily and tried to hop out of the truck, but the door was stuck. Swearing loudly, I used a strip to force it open and it ripped off the hinges. "Fucking dick-whistle, wrecking the truck," I muttered as I stumbled forward. "See if I don't cut a bitch."

"You almost killed my father."

I whirled around to see the girl in the red coat standing to the side. The autoturret on top of the truck was still firing at Miss Whatever-the-shit and keeping her pinned, so I had to deal with her myself. "So what, bitch?" I slurred. "Like I give a shit about your father."

The girl's eyes blazed and she took a deep shuddering breath before bowing her head. "Dad said I should restrain myself," she murmured. "I listened to him and placed restrictions on my power."

"The fuck you whispering about?"

Her head snapped up. "You deserve to disappear. You could have hurt him. He's resting." She brought her hands up and made a rectangle with her thumb and first finger of each hand. "Release restrictions level one."

"Level what?" Her cloak started billowing. There wasn't any fucking wind, so how was she doing that? Then the eyes started appearing. "What the fuck?" I was tripping, that was it. I was just tripping. Another explosion rang out and I howled in pain as my left leg disappeared below the kneecap and fell over. "Fucking bitch!"

"What happened, Skidmark?" she asked, standing in front of me with a gigantic black gun in her hand. What the fuck was wrong with her? It was like her body wasn't human anymore. Was she one of those twisted motherfuckers, what'd they call 'em, Case Something or whatever? Something twisted in the shadows and I realized there were insects crawling in the shadows of her coat where the inside should have been. "You were _raring_ to go a second earlier. And then I escalated."

"Skiddy!" Squealer shouted, hopping out of the car and coming toward me. Without looking, the shadow bitch reached out an arm and it stretched, warping into a huge dog's head that opened its maw and bit my woman in half effortlessly. The lower half of her body collapsed to the ground, just lying there.

"Squealer..." I snarled. "Gonna kill you...!"

The girl smiled coldly. "Good luck. Nobody's managed it yet." She reached for me and I called on my power to get the bitch, knock her on her ass, _anything_. She blinked, not giving a single fuck about the physics or some shit, before shaking her head. "It's a shame, really." She grabbed me by the neck and stared into my eyes. "You could do so much with that power, couldn't you. Perpetual motion, or the next best thing to it... But no. Instead, you struggle for power, striving to be the top power in a city that despises you. You're nothing but a bully, Skidmark.

"And I hate bullies."

* * *

 **2.6 PHO**

 **Topic: Leviathan Attack**  
 **In: Boards ► News**  
 **Temp_MOD** (Original Poster) (Moderator)  
Posted On May 23rd, 2011

This is the thread for discussing the recent Leviathan attack.

The Endbringer attacked a town on the east coast. Due to the magnificent work of two Tinkers (Armsmaster and Dragon) there was approx. a thirty minute warning before Leviathan arrived, leading to a death toll that is lower than previous Leviathan attacks.

Discuss, but please remember that this is an Endbringer attack and many members may have lost friends, family or loved ones.

(Showing page 14 of 17)

► **d'Arven**  
Replied On May 25th, 2011  
I don't believe any cape would go one-on-one with Leviathan without being totally nuts. You're telling bullshit.

► **XxVoid_CowboyxX**  
Replied On May 25th, 2011  
Re:d'Arven  
Are you calling me a liar, asshole? I heard it from my uncle who works in the PRT

 **-User has received a warning for this post.  
-Personal attacks aren't acceptable despite the circumstances. -Temp_MOD**

► **Reave** (Verified PRT Agent)  
Replied On May 25th, 2011  
I can't say much because it involves some information that is related to an ongoing investigation, but the cape is supposedly a high-level Brute with very powerful regeneration.

Edit: To avoid anybody saying anything, I'm not Void Cowboy's 'uncle in the PRT'. Thankfully.

► **Parian** (Verified Cape)  
Replied On May 25th, 2011  
High-level Brute with regeneration? Red coat?

I think that's Carnage, a new cape in Brockton Bay. She showed up near the end of the fight (after Leviathan smashed open the shelter, for reference) and went at him. I think she had a Tinker-gun or something. Nothing else would do that kind of damage to his skin.

► **Whitecollar** (Cape Wife)  
Replied On May 26th, 2011  
Does anyone know if the list of casualties has been released? I've been trying to get hold of my wife, but the phone lines are all busy.

► **Brocktonite03** (Veteran Member)  
Replied On May 26th, 2011  
Re:Whitecollar  
The monument was put up on the 20th... if you send me a PM I can go look for you.

► **Bagrat** (Veteran Member) (The Guy In The Know)  
Replied On May 27th, 2011  
I've been searching, but I can't seem to figure out how exactly Armsmaster managed to cut off Leviathan's tail like that (referring to the play-by-play posted here, for those wondering). Anyone happen to know?

► **TinkerTailor** (Verified Cape)  
Replied On May 27th, 2011  
Re:Bagrat  
Aparently he used some sort of enhancement on his halberd. I think he called it nano-thorns or something like that. Anyway, I don't know how it works (I'm not Dragon :P) but it did the trick.

► **SonOfArtemis** (Veteran Member)  
Replied On May 28th, 2011  
Those time-stop bombs... those were interesting, to say the least. Is that the work of a new Tinker?

► **Magery** (Verified Awesome)  
Replied On May 28th, 2011  
Re:SonOfArtemis  
I think those are from some bomb Tinker in Brockton Bay. I could be wrong, but wasn't her name Balmung or something like that?

End of page. 1, 2, 3 ... 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

* * *

 **Topic: Who'd you lose?**  
 **In: Boards ► Places ► America ► Brockton Bay Discussion**  
 **Brocktonite03** (Original Poster) (Veteran Member)  
Posted On May 26th, 2011

See topic. Friends? Family?

On topic posts only, please. No commentary. Nc = no condolences via. private message.

(Showing page 2 of 2)

► **Darkblue**  
Replied On May 27th, 2011  
My father was in the shelter that got flooded when Leviathan's tail smashed it open. Like the rest, they haven't found his body.  
Nc.

► **Ultimania5**  
Replied On May 28th, 2011  
My dog Lila. It's stupid I know but I keep looking over where she sat and thinking she'll be there.

► **Armsmaster** (Verified Cape)  
Replied On May 28th, 2011  
Many valiant heroes lost their lives on May 15th in the fight against Leviathan. Velocity and Assault of the Protectorate ENE. Aegis and Kid Win of the Wards.  
Nc.

► **Purity** (Verified Cape)  
Replied On May 28th, 2011  
I lost my friends to that monster. We can't even find their bodies in all the wreckage and flood water.  
Nc.

► **LionsMane**

Replied On May 28th, 2011  
My cousin disappeared somewhere between her home and the shelter. Dinah, wherever you are, I hope you're safe.  
Nc.

► **KincaidVines** (Verified PRT agent)  
Replied On May 28th, 2011  
I lost my little girl. Ivy, I'll miss you.

End of page. 1, 2

* * *

 **Author's note in final chapter**


	3. Vampire

**3.1 Dinah**

I opened my eyes blearily and whimpered. This hadn't been a bad dream. I was scared and wanted to go home. _Chance that Coil will let me go: 12.975%._ I whimpered again, curling into a tighter ball. My head hurt, it hurt so much any time I asked a question and looked into the mosaic, but I had to check.

"Good morning, pet." I didn't respond. "I'm here to ask my questions."

"...It hurts," I whispered. I don't want to answer the questions. "Can I have candy?" The candy made it feel better. It hurt a lot more after the candy, though.

"After the questions," Coil assured me. "First question: what are the chances my plans fail if I continue in my current course of action?"

I couldn't help it. I needed the candy, so I had to get the numbers. "...One hundred percent chance your plans fail." I couldn't believe it. A small current of hope started running through my body.

Coil was silent for a long time. "I don't appreciate being lied to, pet," he hissed, and I shuddered. He was getting angry.

"Not lying!" I wailed. "It's the truth!"

He sighed. "Very well. Two more questions, and then the candy. Do you remember the other two I ask?"

I knew. "One hundred percent chance there's any problems in the next hour." I didn't even need to answer the second question, the chance of problems before lunch. "One hundred percent chance your power won't save you," I told him spitefully, sitting up on my cot and glaring at him. "One hundred percent chance you -"

He jerked suddenly before slapping me. "Answer only questions I ask you," he spat. I didn't care. The numbers told me he was going to die. My head hurt but I didn't care. "Take her and follow me." The two soldiers he always brought with him grabbed me and hauled me off of the cot. I didn't even try to fight them. My head was pounding and bright light was painful, and my legs felt weak. "How did she..." Coil muttered, ignoring everything else. We came to a split in the corridor and he paused before taking the left path.

A loud crash echoed through the facility, followed by a loud roar. The men carrying me looked at each other, but didn't say anything. There were a bunch of repetitive bursts, and each one made my head hurt more. I wanted my candy. The men glanced at each other again. "Gunshots?" one of them said to the other.

"Sounds a bit loud to be gunshots," the other mumbled. "Tinker-tech, you think?"

"Could be."

Coil looked over his shoulder. "Captains, leave the girl with me and go deal with the intruder. Don't hesitate for a second - the intruder is a parahuman."

"Sir!" the men saluted before unceremoniously shoving me toward Coil and running away. There was a loud roar followed by more bangs. The roar changed in pitch slightly before more bangs started up again.

Coil snorted something as he clamped his hand on my shoulder. It hurt. "Even she won't slow her down for long," he muttered. "I have to get out..."

"Hello, Coil."

It was that voice! The girl who'd saved me that last time. I looked back at her. She looked different now, like she was older than she should be. Coil froze and turned back slowly, keeping me in front of him. "If I dare ask, what happened to my men?"

The girl sighed and shook her head. "I was in a hurry. I only broke their necks."

"Small mercies, I suppose. And Echidna?"

"Dealt with. Permanently. The rest of the... Travelers, correct? The rest of the Travelers are in varying stages of injury. None fatal, I believe."

"I was helping her, you know," Coil said calmly. "And you just... killed her, I suppose. How brutal."

The girl shook her head. "I'm here for the girl. I told you what would happen if you approached her again. And then what did you do but ignore my warning and continue throwing your weight around? When did you take her?"

His hand ground down on my shoulder and I cried out slightly. "Right before Leviathan, actually," he said. "Once the sirens began, the panic and chaos helped hide the acquisition."

The girl nodded slowly. "You know what's about to happen to you, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," he said. He drew a gun and placed it against my head. I whimpered in fear. "I'm going to walk out of this building unharmed and with my pet. You're not going to do anything to stop me, because the second you do I'll kill her."

"You're willing to sacrifice her to save yourself? That's low, Coil."

He chuckled darkly. "I _am_ a supervillain. Being a monster simply comes with the territory."

I checked the numbers. "One hundred percent chance you die today, Coil."

"What?" he snapped, his masked head shifting to look at me. "That's not -"

A loud bang rang out and I screamed. After a second, I realized I wasn't hurt, and stopped screaming. I still heard screaming and I realized it was Coil. I took a few steps away and turned to see that he was clutching at a stump where his arm had used to be. The mosaic was shifting so fast I couldn't keep paying attention to it and the real world, and I stumbled away.

"Dinah, come here," the girl said calmly, holding a massive black gun with one hand. "As soon as I deal with Coil, I can take you home."

Coil's screams changed to a shaky laugh. "You think you've won? You can't defeat me! I control my own des-" In the middle of his boasting, he froze. "No..." he whispered. "No! No!" Whatever he'd tried to use his power to do, it'd failed. The mosaic was slowing down now, and I relaxed slightly as I hid behind the girl. The closest pictures to me were all but frozen now. With a convulsive jerk, Coil tore his mask off. "Coil forced me to wear this!" he yelped. "My name is Thomas Calvert, I'm with the PRT! He -"

"I'm not interested," the girl told him, slipping her gun into her coat. The mosaic shifted again and I quickly hid my eyes; seeing it through there was bad enough. "Coil or not, you're the one I've been searching for. The one that took Dinah."

"Please, I'm telling you that I'm not him!"

There was a cold laugh. "We'll see. I just need a little taste..."

"Oh god no!" Mr. Calvert's shriek was cut off suddenly with a wet sound. I shuddered and squeezed my eyes shut and covered my ears - I didn't want to see or hear it myself, but I saw the pictures in my head. The girl had plunged her teeth into his neck.

After far too long, I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I looked up cautiously to see the girl standing there, her appearance the way she looked before. "Let's get you home, Dinah."

The next few days were a blur of pain and exhaustion. My uncle said he'd needed to call Panacea in to fix whatever the candy had done to me to make me want it so much, but I was happy. It still hurt my head to look at the mosaic, but now I felt normal most of the time. I sent Miss Panacea a thank-you card, because that's what you're supposed to do when someone does something nice for you.

The people in the news had been bothering me too, any time I went outside with my cousin. They kept asking what had happened, how I was returned, things like that, but Rory made them leave by asking nicely. He knew about the mosaic, too, but he never talked about it.

On June 1st, I got a visit from Mr. Armsmaster. He talked to me about joining the Wards and part of me really wanted to. When I looked at the mosaic, there was a 84.7% chance I'd be friends with the Wards! But my uncle said that it was too dangerous and that I'd already been taken captive once. He didn't want to lose me again. And, if I was going to be honest, I didn't want to leave home again. I felt safe at home, with Uncle to tuck me into bed at night. Living with the Wards sounded fun, but I knew I'd be homesick before three weeks had passed. I'd checked the numbers.

"Is something wrong, Dinah?" Rory asked me.

I blinked, then realized I'd been frowning. "No, just thinking," I told him. I put an effort into smiling and slipped my hand into his. "I'm glad you're home from work right now."

He smiled. "My favorite cousin gets rescued? Of course they're going to let me take a few days off."

"I'm your only cousin!"

His smile widened. "All the more reason you're my favorite, right?" I giggled. "Alright, Dinah, we should be heading home soon. I think the reporters have dispersed for the day."

"'Kay," I said, and walked by his side. Rory always made time for me when he had visited our house. Before I'd started seeing the mosaic.

We were halfway home when every bit of glass in the city shattered.

* * *

 **3.2 Jack Slash**

The screams of the dying, the wails of those that had lost loved ones... They were glorious.

But, lovely as this orchestra I was conducting sounded, it wasn't my goal, merely a soothing side effect. No, I was here for one reason and one reason only.

Carnage.

"Uncle Jack," Bonesaw said, looking up at me. "When do I get to play?"

"Soon, soon," I assured her. "You wouldn't want to ruin the surprise, would you? The Siberian is searching for our guest of honor as we speak." I had my doubts about whether Manton would be able to find her, however. His range _was_ rather limited, and a van with tinted glass would be somewhat noticeable in this town.

"Okay," she muttered, idly kicking at a pool of blood lying in the street. I glanced down the alleyway to see a pair of corpses lying there; my guess is that they had been wearing glasses when Shatterbird sang our arrival, and the resulting injuries had killed them. There was a surprising amount of blood in the streets, and Bonesaw was always splashing in puddles like the child of our little family.

Bonesaw started to cross the street when I reached out and firmly grabbed her arm. "Bonesaw, you know better than that," I scolded her. "We only cross at crosswalks, when the sign says it's safe to do so."

Her lower lip wobbled adorably. "I'm sorry," she said. "But I checked both ways, and no cars are coming!"

"That is no reason to violate traffic safety," I said. A low roar started up, and I nodded. "See? A car is coming." _Snckt_. I gestured idly with my favorite straight razor. "Now, what do you think would have happened if you'd started crossing, only for the driver to come out of nowhere?"

"But Uncle Jack," Bonesaw said, "even if he hit me, I'd be fine! I reinforced my spine with the sheath, and all of my bones have self-repair nano-bots!"

I nodded. "I understand, Bonesaw, but..." The car crested the hill, its windshield missing like so many others, and I waved the knife idly in its direction. A spray of arterial blood, misting a beautiful crimson in the air, accompanied a sudden shriek, and the car swerved wildly before rolling to a stop somewhere down the hill. "See? There could have been an accident, and that would have been unfortunate."

"Do you think he's still alive? I've been meaning to work on the combination of two clinically dead bodies. I think that if their organs aren't physically dead I should be able to use an enhanced pacemaker to send signals to their brain and simulate brain function..." As Bonesaw chattered merrily along, I took the time to glance at the sky, noting the new plumes of smoke rising up. Burnscar was certainly enjoying herself, although I'm glad she was doing so far away from me. Smoke inhalation did terrible things to one's lungs, after all.

A loud roar filled the air, and I smiled. "It seems Crawler has found our guest first. How wonderful! Soon you'll have a big sister to play with, Bonesaw."

"I hope she wants to be our friend!" the blonde chirped.

"I'm sure she'll come around sooner or later." I might need to make several examples to convince her, of course, but I had a feeling she'd understand. "Now run along. Didn't you have a present to make for her?"

Bonesaw beamed a huge smile at me and scampered off, making sure to cross the road at a crosswalk. Excellent. Now... How do I convince our dear Carnage to become part of our family? I would have preferred to have Hatchet Face nullify her powers and allow me to talk to her, but unfortunately _Cherish_ had to ruin him... My face twisted into a snarl for an instant before I forced myself to relax and go back to the easy-going smile. To sooth myself, I listened to the sounds of the screams and sighed as a particularly loud, high note was struck. I see that Burnscar is still enjoying herself - no, that was Cherish, using her power. The girl had failed in her attempt to manipulate us all - and that was what damned her to becoming one of Bonesaw's playmates, the failure. It was a shame; Hatchet Face was so useful in his own way, and then Cherie Vasil _had_ to come along and ruin him.

Another roar sounded, this one almost in pain, followed by booming laughter. My, but Crawler Crawler seems to be enjoying himself.

With a small pop of displaced air the Siberian appeared next to me and I glanced at the black and white striped woman. "Crawler has greeted Carnage, in his own unique fashion," I told her. "If you could gather the rest of our wayward family, I'd appreciate having everyone present to say hello." The Siberian nodded and took off, jumping through the air without a care in the world for physics. Well, she was a projection, after all, and projections had no need for such things.

I glanced at the ground and frowned. Had I seen movement? ...No, of course not. I hadn't been taken by surprise by any cape yet, hero or villain, and I wouldn't be taken by surprise now.

Before long, the Slaughterhouse Nine had gathered by my side; most had been enjoying themselves. Siberian waited silently, spotless as usual, and the others were covered in varying degrees of blood and gore. Alan was the most damaged, the segment of his shell that contained his right arm gone from the elbow down. "Aww," Bonesaw tittered, "did someone fight back?" In response, Alan pointed his right arm at her and extended a ceramic blade pointed at her eye before tilting his head inquisitively.

" _Alan_ ," I said meaningfully, deliberately using his name, "you know what will happen if you start a fight." The man-turned-mannequin seemed to consider the pros and cons of forcing me to use force of my own before the blade folded back into his self-contained systems seamlessly. "Excellent. Well, Crawler seems to have located the young Carnage for us and is currently playing with her."

Shatterbird smirked. "Hope he leaves some for us. Shame we can't do the tests this time, though."

"We grow and evolve by being tested," I told her, "but some people are tested merely by living. Judging from the reports found online and in the PRT offices, Carnage is one of those people. After all, the girl _is_ cannibalizing her victims. Now, shall we proceed?" I strode down the streets, careless of putting them at my back. I was invincible; nothing could harm me. The _thought_ of harming me was all but impossible; I glanced over at Siberian, the most dangerous of our little family, and watched as she cautiously wiped a smear of blood from Bonesaw's cheek. Bonesaw giggled and smiled up at her appointed 'mother'.

As I walked toward Crawler's location, I found another survivor and calmly opened my straight razor before slicing out; my power extended the cutting edge and split open his stomach. The rancid man grabbed at his spilling internal organs and screamed loudly as the slippery intestines slipped through his fingers. His blood spilled and pooled by the side of the road, mingling with the blood of countless others, and I smiled. Watching people undergo their own tests would never cease to amuse me whether they succeeded or failed. Bonesaw was humming a little tune as she skipped along, heedless of the dead and dying all around her. Crawler had been _busy_ ; he'd left us a path straight to him. When we finally came upon the sight of the battleground, Crawler and the girl were standing, facing each other. The girl was holding matching guns that seemed larger than her arms, but she was holding them effortlessly. A Brute after all. "Jack!" Crawler rumbled, his voice deep. "I _like_ this one. She can hurt me!" As I watched, missing chunks of flesh grew back almost instantly, harder and thicker than before, though some pieces seemed to be regenerating slower than the others. The guns, perhaps.

"Excellent, Crawler. I'm very pleased that you've found someone that you feel can make you grow." I personally believed him to be wrong, that his powers weren't his only means of self-improvement, but that was an argument for another time. "So, we meet at last, Carnage. Or would you prefer Taylor Hebert?"

The girl glared at me. "Jack Slash. You..." Anger seemed to leave her at a loss for words for a moment, and I twisted my knife this way and that, letting it glint in the light. "Carnage will do just fine for now. Until I kill you."

I laughed. "A wonderful goal, one no doubt shared by many heroes and villains across the globe. What is our bounty at now?" I asked Cherish idly.

"Several million each," she said.

"Amazing. Simply amazing. You see? Just by living and entertaining myself, the world wishes to see me hang at the end of a rope."

"You kill people for fun," Carnage snapped at me.

I nodded. "I do. Do you not do the same?" The words came to me, as they always did. "Rampaging the streets like some monster, trying to feed on your prey... Hardly heroic behavior."

She twitched violently. "Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up! You're a bully, you and all your... and the rest of Slaughterhouse Nine, just common bullies and thugs!" Well, that was hardly polite. With a frown, I lightly flicked my knife and opened a slash along her cheek. She didn't even wince, staring at me as it healed. "And I hate bullies," she said finally.

"A shame," I said dubiously. "I'd intended to do this politely, invite you to join us after we'd had a nice chat. But if you insist on being rude... the hard way it is. Crawler!"

Crawler roared happily and thundered toward her, his hundred eyes rotating. Carnage immediately turned to him and opened fire, bullets raining toward the massive beast. The bullets exploded against him, carving off chunks of his armor and flesh, and he screamed in pain and delight. "More, girlie!" he shouted, his second mouth speaking as his first was destroyed. "Make it HURT!"

"Die already!" she screamed, firing as she ran. She was fast, able to dodge and run rings around the far-more-cumbersome Crawler. Still, she didn't expect the prehensile appendage that swung out from his side and sent her flying across the clearing into a nearby building. From the crumbled bricks and shadows she launched herself, snarling as her gun carved another massive hole in Crawler's side and destroying the offending tentacle.

"Jack, let us in on the action," Shatterbird called. "I want some fun too!"

I frowned, watching the fight. "No, let Crawler play. He's been searching for someone like her to play with." Still... his slowed regeneration was making me wonder. Could she be a Trump as well, canceling out his regeneration? But it wasn't power nullification, as Shatterbird still had her wings of glass and I had been able to stretch the cutting edge of my razor. "If it seems like he is in danger, you have my permission to step in."

Crawler roared and spat a glob of acid at Carnage, who jumped into the air and fired at several of his eyes. The extraneous organs burst with small pops and bled, the blood pooling on the ground almost indistinguishable as his aside from the hissing sound as the acidic blood ate at whatever it found to react with. Carnage landed lightly in the middle of the clearing and paused, exhaling slowly. "Do you really believe I'm a monster, Jack? More of one than you?"

I smirked, trusting my words. "My dear, I kill because I'm searching for improvement, for people that can grow. You massacre because you're hungry. Tell me, which of us is doing more for humanity?"

Her red eyes gleamed and she exhaled again. "I see." She put away her guns, and I immediately called for Crawler to stop. "Release..." she intoned. "Release restriction level 0..." Her eyes closed. "I am... the Bird of Hermes. Eating my own wing..."

My stomach plummeted. "Kill her!" I snapped. Something inside me was shouting that whatever was happening was wrong and needed to be eliminated. The member of Slaughterhouse Nine didn't hesitate; they struck with lethal intent, Burnscar making the flames dance as they played over the girl's body and Shatterbird sending her shards of glass straight at the body. Crawler reared back and slammed down onto her form over and over again.

But it was no use; her body had already changed to some sort of undulating plasma that ignored our attacks as though they were nothing. "...To keep myself tame," Taylor's voice echoed. Some sort of self-hypnotism to lock away her full powers, released by that strange chant? I shook my head. Regardless of her Changer powers, she would need to turn back at some point, and any human died if its lifeblood wouldn't reach its brain. She might be a regenerator, but I can cut faster than she can recover.

Suddenly, two strips of colored light appeared, leading from the quickly spreading cloud of plasma to Shatterbird and Burnscar. Before any of us could do anything, two metal spikes shot out of the darkness, impaling both women through the forehead. Cherish shrieked as they crumpled. "Bonesaw, shouldn't they have survived that?" I asked almost idly, staring as I tried to peer through the smoke and fires that Burnscar had started.

"The mesh protecting their skull and brain should have held through anything unless the projectile was approaching the speed of sound," the girl answered, staring as she nibbled at her fingernail. "But that shouldn't be -"

The smoke and fire cleared for an instant, allowing me to see the form of the darkness; it was filled with eyes and mouths, staring at us evilly as it spread and covered the ground. "I was trapped in a box by someone who wanted me to suffer," Taylor intoned. There were two figures protruding from the darkness; both men, but very different. One was tall, with broad shoulders and blonde hair, and the other was ratty and diseased, his teeth looking like cracked walnut shells. I recognized them, of course - Kaiser and Skidmark, two gangleaders from this town. She could use their powers? Had she consumed them? "Instead, I made the darkness my own. Became a part of it as it became a part of me." An insect crawled across my shoe and I stepped back, away from the rising pool of darkness. "I consumed the insects that crawled across my body and I needed more. They said I was anemic, gave me a bag of blood, and I felt almost human again. That's when I realized I needed to drink blood - it was the only thing that satisfied that craving deep inside me." Ah, _excellent_. She's insane, and not in a way I can use. "I ate and I ate and I _ate_ but it still wasn't enough. But my father... he was always beside me, always there to tell me things would get better. He's with me now, and I know what I'm doing is wrong but I have to stop you. I need _more_."

I looked down again, feeling something else move, and I saw the blood on the ground start streaming towards her. "This..." I murmured, smiling broadly. "This is exactly what I've been looking for! Someone who has transcended humanity, who has passed all of her tests and grown as a result. You, Carnage! Taylor! You are what we need as our future!"

"Be silent!" she roared, and the darkness formed into her body, a tattered red cloak covering her, even as it spread across the ground in waves. The blood on the ground was consumed by her instantly as it was drawn toward her, the rivers of blood unceasing as she drank in the blood of the corpses we had created. "It's not enough yet, but it will be," she said, aiming the gun at me. "More than enough to kill you." From the darkness, shapes rose, and I stepped back with a wide smile. Humans, animals, insects... These had to be everything that she'd consumed. "My Familiars are feeding now," she said. "With every person and animal that they eat, my powers grow."

Crawler roared and charged her; without looking, Carnage pulled the trigger on her massive black gun and blasted his head in two. The brain started healing slowly, far slower than I remember it healing before, and she fired again and again and again. Before long, it stopped regenerating entirely and I watched as a swarm of darkness enveloped Crawler's body. "A Tinker-made gun, I assume. Designed somehow to interfere with regeneration," I observed.

"I have their memories - all shouting, all whispering in my ear at the same time," Carnage said. "You called me a monster, Jack? You were right."

Cherish screamed and ran for it, giving up all hopes of making up for her failure; with a sigh, I turned and sliced out. My knife cut into the tendons of her legs and she fell, sprawling on the ground. Sobbing, she tried dragging herself away, only to scream as a swarm of insects and humans crashed on her and swallowed her up. Well, that was one annoyance removed.

"I'm a monster. And I'm your worst nightmare."

* * *

 **3.X Taylor**

Cherish, Shatterbird, and Burnscar had been easy for her to handle.

Crawler, for all his vaunted regeneration, died like any other human once her Jackal had blown his brain to bits. _The bullets are extremely powerful in their own right, and the mercury charge is designed to slow and/or eliminate regeneration entirely,_ Rune's voice whispered in her mind. _Please note that this gun is extremely heavy and as such should only be used by Brutes._ She knew all of that, of course; Rune's knowledge and memories were hers the moment she consumed the girl. Everything about the Neo-Nazi's life, from growing to being in juvie and triggering to fighting her; even the last moments of stark terror and pain as the cape died and became part of her.

Jack Slash was standing calmly, his small smirk never moving. "Bonesaw," he said, not taking his eyes off of Taylor, "is your present ready?"

"Yep! I remembered what you said about epidemics and everything," she said, crossing her heart with a little x shape. "Only five or six cycles, tops."

"That's very well done. Now, don't you think it's time to give Carnage her gift?"

"Okay!" the bio-tinker chirped before fishing a remote out of her blood-stained apron and pressing a button. Taylor's eyes narrowed as she wondered what exactly the bio-tinker had cooked up.

An explosion rocked through her sense and she nearly buckled as a wave of weakness washed over her. What had... Her Familiars. They had been poisoned somehow, destroying themselves and other Familiars. She couldn't even do anything but hope that the weakness wasn't life-threatening. "Tell me, Carnage, are you enjoying our gift? It was designed against Crawler, truth be told, in the event that he ever considered himself strong enough. According to Bonesaw, it's supposed to turn the body's own systems against it until it eats itself from the inside out and bursts, propogating itself in any blood it touches. And since your lovely Familiars are formed from blood..." He spread his arms and chuckled. "You can see how effective it is."

Taylor screamed as the feedback from her Familiars assaulted her senses. She hadn't felt _I couldn't do anything but stand there shuddering as she stood up, absently stepping on Nick's motionless body as she_ this pain in so long. The last time she felt this pain was before the _The timeline split as he exerted his power, the other him going to the right while he turned left. He looked over his shoulder_ locker incident, before she'd been part of the dark. Then the pain stopped and she looked up, smiling widely with all of her mouths as she silenced the screaming horde in her mind. "It's over, Jack," she shouted. "Your plague failed."

"Tsk." He seemed irritated, the first real emotion she'd seen on his face. "Trust a monster to recover from something like that."

"It won't work, Jack, not any more," Taylor snarled. She'd accepted what she was. "Are you human enough to kill me? I doubt it!"

Mannequin silently slunk forward, his blades licking out and stabbing one of her Familiars in the head before the tide washed over him as well. Taylor frowned; he wasn't being assimilated. The tide receded and the featureless man tilted his head, as if asking 'Was that it?' and stabbing another of her Familiars. She growled and pulled out the Casull and fired several times, each shot accurately shattering one of his spheroid compartments. For the first time Mannequin seemed startled and Taylor didn't waste her chance, directing her flood to swallow him up without a sound. His mind merged with the rest of her swarm and she smiled as his memories became hers, wincing as she listened to the Simurgh's song again. It was hauntingly familiar, though she'd only heard it once before when she consumed Echidna - beautiful and horrifying. He'd been a great Tinker, once, before the Simurgh had warped his mind and driven him insane.

"There's only three left, Jack," she shouted, walking forward implacably. "Three of you are all the remain of the Slaughterhouse Nine." The Siberian jumped toward her and Taylor let her strike her through the chest, spearing her heart. She knew that her regeneration would save her; she'd come back from worse. While the Siberian impaled her, she brought her Jackal up and fired; the bullet burst, shrapnel shredding Taylor's face, and the Siberian winked out of existence. A few steps away, she appeared again, unharmed, and Taylor's eye - the one that wasn't regenerating and staring wildly in the eye socket - narrowed. "A projection?" she mused, reading from the memories of Cherish. "I see." She concentrated and ordered her Familiars to spread out and engulf the city. People screamed as they were absorbed only to surge from the darkness and blood, killing loved ones that just seconds before they had been protecting. Taylor smiled suddenly, pointed teeth gleaming, and a very special set of memories became hers as simultaneously the Siberian disappeared. "Manton. He was a cape - projecting an image of his daughter. She died, didn't she? Experimenting with man-made powers. How strange."

Jack wasn't so smug anymore. "I'm better than you," he shouted, knife slashing left and right. Familiars fell only to be replaced by another; Taylor knew she was burning through them quickly, but she had the entire population of Brockton Bay as well as several nigh-immortal capes as Familiars. She would survive. "All you can do is feed, like a mindless, raving animal! No goals, no plans, nothing!"

"I had goals and plans," she told him, sweeping forward like the queen she could have been with her coat flapping behind her. "They were _taken_ from me! By people that had power and abused it. By bullies."

Bonesaw tossed something into the air that froze her Familiars in a radius. "Uncle Jack's not a bully!" she shouted, and Taylor barely flinched as she pulled the trigger and blew Bonesaw's head apart with a single bullet from the Jackal. The Familiars swarmed her and the congealed mass of the other Familiars and Taylor tensed. The little hellspawn had _giggled as I injected a new virus into his system, then skipped away and watched as his veins bulged, turning a dark_ set up hundreds of plagues, set to go off if she didn't keep in contact with them every so often. For the meantime, Taylor had her new Familiar send the 'all clear' code and disappear back into the darkness.

"You're all alone, Jack," Taylor whispered. "And the darkness will swallow you up."

Jack Slash smiled, then, a large broad smile. "And when you do that, I will have won," he said. "The monster will have consumed me, but in doing so will have given up its humanity forever."

"I've already done that," she told him, and with a lightning-fast dash plunged her teeth into his artery.

As the sun set, she sat back and gathered her Familiars back to her, hiding the darkness as she renewed the restrictions on her power and locked herself to just her regeneration, enhanced physical abilities, and minor appearance shifting. Once that was finished, she just slumped to the ground and sat on a chunk of rubble, the world ignored. The next thing that disturbed her was the sound of a large engine roaring, and she slowly looked up to see that it was daylight and that a large mechanical creation was approaching her. She recognized one of Dragon's jets - one of the PRT agents she had consumed from the flooded shelter whispered in her mind that Dragon operated the suits remotely. "Taylor Hebert?" the speaker called out.

"Dragon."

The suit landed. "Hello, Taylor," the kindly voice said, just a hint of a Canadian accent bleeding through. "I'm sorry we couldn't meet under better conditions."

Taylor smiled and stood up, approaching the ship. "Are you here to take me to the Birdcage?" The inescapable prison for parahuman supervillains, it was where the worst of the worst went to be locked away forever. "Or to kill me?"

"I don't want to kill you."

"But there is a kill order out, of course. I've killed and consumed this entire town, not to mention the Slaughterhouse Nine." Could she be killed? She'd consumed so many Brutes - Aegis, Crawler, Alabaster... Their whispers of power trickled through her mind as she let their tortured minds touch hers - that she wasn't sure she could die no matter how much she wanted to.

The suit's ramp opened and she walked up it slowly, feeling weary. A screen inside showed a woman's face - Dragon herself. "The Slaughterhouse Nine had kill orders, and so your actions were justified there. Because of your... other actions, there was talk of a kill order." Dragon smiled. "I managed to convince them that you would enter the Birdcage instead. I think you're the kind of person that would do that."

Taylor sighed. "Just... take me somewhere I won't hurt people that don't deserve it." Her power messed with her mind; she knew that. When it was in control, she just killed and ate anything in her way - but it wasn't in control, and Taylor could make her own decisions. "Kill me, lock me away, I don't care anymore." The ramp closed and the suit's engines roared as she slumped on the seat nearby. "I'm just so tired..."

Taylor's eyes drifted shut and she slept, dreaming of a better time.

* * *

 **Happy Halloween, you jerks!**

 **Alright, alright, settle down, settle down. I know none of you care about this, but hear me out.**

 **First off - this was written in about two weeks with a week of planning beforehand and a week of editing after. It was more a challenge than anything else, a way of me saying 'Hey dipshit get off your ass and write the story already'. I need practice with writing a variety of characters, and that was part of what this was about. Another part was me REALLY wanting to write Taylor with Alucard's power.**

 **Impressions time! I enjoyed writing this (most of it, anyways) but don't think I'll be writing for Worm again. Part of it being a) I'm just not as big a fan of writing Worm fics as I am reading them and b) ...fuck, that's a lot of characters to keep straight.**

 **Segments that were the easiest/hardest to write: Easiest was probably Sophia, strangely enough. I'd like to think I got her character down fairly well, but knowing me I probably fucked it up ten ways from Sunday. Hardest was... Hm. Hardest was a tie between Dinah and Miss Militia, I think. Dinah because I don't really remember what it's like to be a kid (and because I wasn't sure exactly how mature Dinah was - in canon, she's been drugged heavily so I really can't use that for a base) and Miss Militia because holy shit it's really hard to write characters that are genuinely good people.**

 **Segments that were the most fun/least fun to write: Most fun was a tie between all of Skidmark and the first half of Jack Slash. I just have a _thing_ for unrepentant jackasses, y'know? It helps that Skidmark's character is basically 'every few words combine a curse word with an object commonly found in the kitchen'. Jack Slash... In Hellsing, the named villains are mostly genial and easy-going, ignoring the fact that half are blood-thirsty vampire Nazis, and I wanted to represent that somewhere. I also find the mental image of Jack and Bonesaw waiting patiently for the light to change before crossing the street funny. Least fun to write was probably PHO interludes; eh, don't know why. Probably all the formatting I had to do. (Recognize a few names up there? Hee hee hee. IscAAriot and TheCrimsonFckr are probably my favorite little joke. No, that second one isn't Taylor.)**

 **Point of view: I did that on purpose. Everyone is in first person - except Taylor, who's in third. It's mainly to enforce the feeling of Taylor not quiet being human anymore. Did it work? Or was it just weird?**

 **Anyway, that was my (probably rough and sloppy) three-shot. I probably won't be doing something like this again. It was dumb. Fun, but dumb. I'd originally planned to write a lot of this at work, since waiting for programs to compile takes _forever_ , but then a large amount of time-sensitive stuff popped up and _WHOOPS_ there goes my writing time when I'm trying to figure out how to rotate a three-dimensional shape while simultaneously stretching it. Blegh.**

 **Also, because I've seen it mentioned a few times, this story is only here, not on SB, SV, QQ, or any other acronym... It's just not high-enough quality, I think; if I wanted to post it somewhere else, I'd probably take the time to fully flesh it out (more than just the week and half of planning I did). For a Halloween fic, written in a month? Eh, passable quality. Not exactly up to my standards, but meh, whatever, I wrote it more or less because I needed to. For a fic on those boards? Nowhere near good enough.**

 **My initial reaction when I wrote this, by the way: "Oops, did I just accidentally a three-shot?" (why yes i do watch hellsing abridged)**

 **Many thanks to everyone that favorited, followed, or reviewed.**


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